In the beginning it was all about procedural generation of worlds, sub-building and “science,” but we quickly realized some of those things weren’t working well. We started by being inspired by Minecraft and Don’t Starve, but we didn’t know exactly what we were going to focus on. Simply put, Subnautica wouldn’t be the game it is, nor the success that it is, without our community.

We were on the brink of financial disaster, which was averted when our community started supporting us financially in Early Access. Can you talk about your favourite aspects of that, and what the collaboration resulted in? You’ve had a very collaborative development process with your community. The open-world and atmospheric nature of the game really meant we could have a lot of optional content in there that didn’t have to be tightly integrated with everything else. That was stressful and meant I had to make all design/balance changes, so we wanted to try something different with Subnautica. NS2 was tightly balanced, and with a few bad numbers the whole thing went awry. I think we did figure out how to make a game that was much “looser” design-wise, which allowed many people on the team to contribute creatively without “breaking” the game.

I would like to say we learned how to scope down after NS2 but I don’t think that’s true. It was a great creative challenge that still let us leverage our sci-fi roots. After many years making Natural Selection 2, we really needed a change! So we left the competitive RTS/Shooter genre and made a slow, story-based game. Were there any lessons from asymmetrical multiplayer shooters that carried over?Ĭharlie Cleveland: Heh. We grabbed the studio co-founder and game director on Subnautica, Charlie Cleveland, to talk about the road to launch and some of the game’s unique design decisions.įANDOM: We spent a fair bit of time in Natural Selection 2, and this seems like a very different kind of project for Unknown Worlds. Not only is it famous for being fun, it’s become the new example of how to develop a game using the community’s voice as a guiding star.įor developer Unknown Worlds, Subnautica is miles away from its last game, Natural Selection 2 - a hybrid of real-time strategy and first-person shooter that saw marines battling aliens that would evolve mid-battle. Its blend of survival, story, and terrifying underwater close calls has become this year’s early indie success story.

Subnautica game of the year